


Family Values

by Random_Nerd3



Series: Convoluted Crossovers [5]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV), Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Julie Molina, Bisexual Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Eventual Plot, Everyone Is Alive, Everyone Is Gay, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, It's All John Winchester's Fault, M/M, Multi, Pansexual Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Polysexual Nick (Julie and The Phantoms), Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Siblings, Protectiveness, Reggie Is A Winchester, Reggie Is Gay For Everyone Okay?, Reggie Plays The Banjo, for now, high school!au, i have no life, supernatural!AU, willex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27048139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Nerd3/pseuds/Random_Nerd3
Summary: Wrapped up in a family full of secrets Reggie gets tired of his brothers and their constant lying. When they move to LA Reggie hoped things would be different this time around. Turns out he should be careful for what he wishes for because - if the demon ghost from hell trying to steal his friend's souls is anything to go by - his Family Business is definitely not insurance like his dad always claimed it was.orThis is a JatPxSPN crossover starring Reggie as Sam and Dean's younger brother. He transfers to a new high school, joins a rock band and promptly falls for the lead singer and lead guitarist in one fell swoop.Previously titled Hidden Secrets
Relationships: Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson/Reggie, Julie Molina/Nick/Luke Patterson/Reggie, Luke Patterson/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms) & Dean Winchester, Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms) & Everyone, Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms) & Sam Winchester
Series: Convoluted Crossovers [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929526
Comments: 104
Kudos: 261





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> I'm super excited to finally be publishing this fic. I've been sitting on it for ages, and finally want to share it! Hopefully everyone likes it. I edited and extended the first chapter, including an extra-long Reggie Bisexual Panic when he meets Luke.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> ~R

Reggie woke up in a cold sweat, trying to regain his bearings. He was in his room, because he had his own bedroom in LA. When his dad promised they’d stay in the same city for over a year, the man had really delivered. Instead of renting them a shitty motel room for six months John Winchester had actually signed a lease to a shity two bedroom half-bath, mini kitchen apartment in rural Las Angelos. He was never home, which was fine with Reggie. Sam and Dean tried to keep him safe from their dad’s alcoholism. More often than not though, Dean was out hustling pool instead of staying at the apartment, which left the protecting to Sam… and Reggie loved Sam, but the dude was just a wiry stick. Dean banged on his bedroom door startling Reggie out of his thoughts. “Reggie! You decent?!” Dean called out as a warning before opening the door to Reggie’s room. Reggie glared at Dean, pulling his blanket over his head.

“Leave me alone,” Reggie grumbled, trying to go back to sleep. Dean chuckled then pulled at the foot of Reggie’s blanket, yanking it off of him. “Hey!” Reggie protested, making a desperate grab for the blanket. Dean held the blanket out of Reggie’s reach, then threw it across the room.

“Nope, you’re getting up. Don’t be a hard-ass about this. You and Sammy are the ones who actually want to go to school.” Dean said, digging into Reggie’s dresser. Reggie blinked awake, and caught the flannel Dean threw at him. He pulled it on over his white t-shirt and buttoned it up.

“Yeah, I wanted to go to school,” Reggie grumbled as he followed Dean into the kitchen. “Not get rudely woken up at -” he checked the time on his phone, “- seven ‘o clock in the morning.” He slid into his usual seat at the wobbly plastic table John bought for their kitchen. Sam was sitting next to him, researching something on his laptop When Reggie tried to take a peek at what Sam was doing, his brother snapped the laptop shut.

“I’ll tell you later,” Sam promised, though they both knew he had no intent on doing so. Reggie and Sam used to be really close growing up, all three of them were… but over the past year Sam had been pulling away from Reggie, just as Dean had did once he turned seventeen. Something about the family business and hunting, though Reggie doubted they’d do much of that in a large city like LA.

“Just don’t get thrown out on your first day, yeah?” John asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Reggie rolled his eyes,

“Not like you’d even care enough to call the school and find out.” He said back, still upset that John was leaving on a job for three months. Sammy and Dean exchanged a look, but didn’t say anything. His dad tensed, instead of the expected yelling Reggie would usually get in response for being so rude, John just sounded tired.

“Reggie, you know my company sends me on these things. It’s not like I have a choice,” John said. Reggie scoffed,

“Please dad, I’m not ten anymore. I know the salesman story is a lie. Just let me in on the truth, maybe I can help,” he once again pleaded, trying to get the truth out of his family. The air grew heavy between the four of them and Dean cleared his throat,

“We’re going to be late. Grab you crap and get in Baby, I’ll be out in a few.” Reggie just sighed, if he only knew what his family really did he could help them with it, instead of staying in the dark. He couldn’t ignore a direct order from Dean though, even if it sounded like a request.

“Fine,” Reggie grunted, downing the rest of his coffee. He grabbed his bag and started out the apartment door before realizing Sam wasn’t following him. Taking the Impala key off the table near the door he turned around. “Sam, you coming?” Reggie asked, only to see his family already in an intense, hushed conversation. “Whatever,” Reggie said to himself, walking out the apartment door alone.

The only good thing that came out of having to wait in the Impala alone was that he could finally play his country music without Dean and his Dad berating him on his terrible music taste. Was it really his fault it was the only thing remembered from his birth family was country twang? He even had a small banjo from his real parents, the only thing he had to remember them by. Reggie sat in the driver’s seat, his feet hanging off the steering wheel as he strummed his banjo along to the song playing on the radio. The downside of having to wait in the car for forty minutes was that he’d be alone with his thoughts. His chaotic, end-of-the world, worst case scenario thoughts. Thoughts like, what if no one likes me? What if I end up sucking at the bass, it has five strings not four like the banjo. “Home is where my horse is,” Reggie sang off-handedly, toying with the melody he wrote long ago.

“Turn off that country shit!” Dean yelled, knocking on the window. Reggie jumped, hitting his knee against the side of the car. He muttered a strand of curse words then opened the door.

“Fuck off mister I-keep-secrets-from-my-little-brother,” Reggie said, shoving past Dean as he carefully climbed into the back of the car, buckling his banjo into the seat next to him. Dean rolled his eyes,

“Dude, that thing needs to burn. It’s everything that’s wrong with the world.” Dean said as they pulled out of the parking lot. Reggie stuck his tongue out at Dean and refused to give him the satisfaction of a verbal response. Sammy just sighed, tired of hearing both sides of their infamous country vs rock argument argued from every angle.

“Look, its just music -” Sammy tried to say before Reggie and Dean both cut him off with,

“ - It’s not just music!”

“ - Higher your standards Sammy!”

Reggie smirked to himself when Sammy just deflated, trying to avoid being drawn back into the bickering. The rest of the ride to the school went by without conflict, Dean had started blasting his emo rock to avoid hearing Reggie try to defend country music. “Don’t worry about him baby,” Reggie whispered to his banjo, petting it’s neck. They pulled into the school’s parking lot, Dean pulling the Impala into an empty spot near the front doors. Reggie ignored Dean’s snicker as he continued to comfort his one true love. “The mean man doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Hey, Romeo we’re here.” Dean said as Sammy almost threw himself out of the car in a desperate attempt at getting away from them. Reggie rolled his eyes,

“You’re just jealous dad didn’t get you into the music program too. Maybe you’d get your own Baby.” Dean just rolled his eyes and tapped the hood of the Impala with his hand.

“This here’s my Baby Reg, and she’s much more beautiful than yours,” he said with a smirk. Reggie gasped dramatically while Sammy just groaned.

“If this is what going to the same school is going to be like all year, pretend you don’t know me.” Sam said as he took the lead, walking up to the school’s main doors. Dean slung an arm around Reggie’s shoulders and they followed Sammy.

“You know I love you, right squirt?” Dean asked, ruffling Reggie’s hair. Reggie nodded and looked at Dean with a smile on his face.

“I know Dean-o,” Reggie said as they walked through the doors of Los Feliz High School.

“Woah,” Sam said, stopping in the doorway. They knew Los Feliz was centered around the performing arts, but it was strange seeing so much… color in one hallway. Almost everyone was wearing some sort of school apparel, or they were a part of some performance group like the group of girls who looked like they were trying to blind them with sparkles. In all honesty, Reggie had never attended a high school where there was so much damn pride. Seriously, is this what people with normal lives think is exciting?

“It looks like a fucking carnival in here,” Dean said, winking at the group of girls, who giggled at him in response. Reggie rolled his eyes and shouldered his bag. Instead of focusing on his brother’s banter, he darted his eyes around the place to label any would-be bullies.

“Where’s the principal’s office?” Reggie asked when the ended up in the gym instead of the offices. Dean scratched his head and turned around to look back through the gym doors.

“Must’ve gotten turned around,” Dean said, looking confused. Just when Reggie was about to make a comment about Dean’s lack of brain function someone shouted a warning, and he hit the ground hard.

“Are you okay?” Someone asked, rushing over to them, followed by a small group of people. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you. The ball was already in the air so really you walked into it and Luke dared me so I couldn’t not throw the dodge ball and -” Reggie cut him off with a pained grunt. A crestfallen look of guilt crossed the pink-sweatshirt guy’s face and his sleeveless friend patted a hand on his shoulder.

“Relax Alex, he’s not dead. No harm no foul, right?” Sleeveless Guy said bending a hand down to help Reggie up. He really must hate long sleeves, it looked like he deliberately cut the sleeves off the gym shirt, because none of the other students had as much arms exposed. They were strong arms too, judging by how easily Sleeveless Guy pulled Reggie up.

“Wow - uh - my brothers - uh - I Reggie…” Reggie said, trailing off unintelligently as he got lost in Sleeveless Guy’s eyes. Sleeveless Guy smiled at Reggie, sending him further into a gay panic. Sammy hit Reggie’s arm, startling him enough to try to form coherent sentences.

“We were going to Principal Lessa’s office and got lost,” Dean explained, jumping in as Reggie flushed in embarrassment. “My baby brother thanks you for saving him,” Dean added, nodding at Reggie. Sleeveless Guy exchanged a look with Pink Sweatshirt Guy, then a look of realization crossed his face.

“I’m Luke, Luke Patterson. Anxiety Wrapped In A Bow over here is Alex,” Sleeveless Guy said, elbowing Alex’s side. Alex gave them a small wave and scratched the back of his neck. “He’s really sorry he threw a dodgeball at your face.” Reggie shifted his feet awkwardly, rubbing his elbow suddenly wishing the ground would swallow him up and eat him whole. Dean is never going to let me live this down, Reggie thought inwardly as he continued to form coherent sentences. Alex glanced behind them at their class, who seemed too into the dodgeball game to notice their conversation. “Listen, if you need help finding Lessa’s office I can show you where it is,” Luke offered, breaking the awkward silence. Dean clapped his hands together,

“Great!” Dean exclaimed, gesturing dramatically to the gym doors. “Lead the way!” Luke grinned then gave Alex a hug, and Reggie couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to be wrapped up in his strong, muscular looking arms.

“I’ll meet up with you during lunch alright?” Luke asked, watching Alex for any sign of discomfort. Part of Reggie wished he still had that kind of friendship with his brothers. The kind of relationship where he could trust them with anything, and trust that they were still telling him the truth. Alex hesitated, but nodded in response.

“Julie said she wrote up some lyrics last night,” Alex said, “she wanted to go over them with you.” Luke’s smile stretched across his face, and if Reggie didn’t know any better he’d say Luke had hung up the sun.

“Great!” Luke exclaimed, like the news made his day a million times better. A slight feeling of jealousy started to curdle at the pit of Reggie’s stomach. How insane was it that he was jealous of a girl he hadn’t even met yet? “Ready guys?” He asked, slinging an arm around Reggie’s shoulders. It took all Reggie had to not drop to his knees. He couldn’t help but wonder if Luke was alway this warm, this warm comforting blanket of warmth. Reggie figured Luke would make a great cuddler if he was always like this. 

Luke and Reggie took the lead in their little tour group, while Sammy and Dean hung back. Reggie could swear he heard their little snickers whenever Luke asked him a question. “So Reg,” Luke said as they turned the corner, looping around the school. “What’s your story? Are you in the music program?” Reggie shrugged,

“I’ve been around. Stayed in about every town with a crappy motel that had empty rooms available.” Luke frowned,

“Why’d you guys move around so much?” Reggie stole a glance at Sam and Dean, who seemed to be in a deep conversation with each other, no longer paying attention to them. Sighing Reggie said,

“John’s a traveling salesman. One of his company’s best, this is the first time he’s actually stationed in a city for a full year.” Luke let out a low whistle,

“That sucks man. Hey, you play any instruments?” He asked, changing the topic suddenly. Reggie hummed,

“I’ve played around on the banjo but I really want to get into the bass.” Luke’s eyes lit up as they approached a sign that read Principle Lessa’s Office.

“Dude no way! My band - I’m in a band, and we’re looking for a bassist! You any good?” Luke asked. Reggie considered the idea, and decided if his dad wasn’t going to tell him the real reason why they were in LA for the year, he’d need something to do to kill time. Not to mention being in the same band as Luke, meant they’d be able to spend more time together. Reggie shrugged,

“Can’t be any harder than the banjo, right?” He said as a half-confirmation. Luke gave Reggie a hug and let out a little laugh.

“Wound a little tight are you?” He asked, patting Reggie’s back. Reggie smiled bashfully,

“Starting a new school’s always stressful.” Luke frowned, then his smile grew again. Luke’s mood swings reminded Reggie of an overexcited puppy dog, one second he’s bouncing off the walls and the next he’s the most serious he can be. “Here’s Lessa’s office, you’ll find me during lunch? Everyone in the music program has the same lunch period.” Reggie nodded, unsure of exactly what he was agreeing too.

“Sure,” Reggie said, well aware of the dopey smile and red blush running down his neck. If Dean and Sam’s cocky smiles were anything to go by they saw his blush too. Luke’s smile shined as he gave Reggie one last hug before heading back towards the gym.

“Sooooo,” Dean sing-songed as they waited in the secretary’s office for Principal Lessa. “Does Reggie-boo have a crush?” Reggie groaned in frustration,

“Layoff! You’d have a crush on him if too if you were a bisexual disaster!” He exclaimed, grabbing a newspaper from the stack on a nearby short table and hit Dean with it.

“Hey! Watch the merchandise!” Dean said, dodging the attack Reggie aimed at his groin. Reggie went in for another swing, but Dean yanked the magazine out of his hand.

“Guys, guys quit it!” Sam hissed, looking past them. Reggie froze, then slowly turned around to see a woman standing in front of them with her arms crossed and eyebrows narrowed.

“The Winchesters I presume?” She asked them stoically. Reggie instantly settled back into his seat and nodded. “You’re late on your first day, not exactly a good first impression.” Reggie glanced at Dean, who luckily composed himself enough to act his age.

“Sorry about that, we got lost. Big school,” Dean said shrugging. The woman tsked, but seemed to accept his answer.

“My name is Principal Lessa, you may refer to me as Ms. or Mrs. Lessa if you wish. I suppose we should get your orientation started, shall we?” She asked, gesturing for them to walk into her office. Reggie glanced at Dean, who got up and walked through the door, with Sammy following suit. Reggie shouldered his backpack and matched his brother’s pace, ready to start a new life at a new school. Who knows? Maybe Los Feliz is where he’ll find something he’s good at for once.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reggie joins Julie and The Phantoms, excited at the prospect of finally having friends outside of his family.

Reggie realized halfway through Principal Lessa’s power point presentation that it was boring. His attention started to wander, counting ceiling titles and the number of books she had on her bookshelf. He could tell she was starting to lose Dean too, and watched as his brother’s attention wandered to the windows when a group of cheerleaders walked past. Principal Lessa was nice, she had a bubbly personality, but they were just getting bored. The Los Feliz orientation wasn’t anything they hadn’t heard before. “Mister Winchesters, pay attention!” Lessa snapped, obviously starting to get aggravated by their lack of attention span.

“Sorry!” Reggie said quickly. He was honestly apologizing for their lack of interest, it wasn’t her fault the power points were boring. “No disrespect meant Principal Lessa, but we’ve heard it all before. Let me guess, your next few slides were about attendance policies, two unexcused absences allowed, anything past that will subject us to as many detentions as unexcused absences.” Lessa’s jaw unhinged for a second, before she collected herself and lowered into her desk seat. Sam smiled apologetically at her,

“Every school’s the same. Do this enough times you memorize a few things.” Reggie tensed, half expecting for them to get kicked out of Los Feliz without even starting it. To his surprise though, Principal Lessa just laughed.

“I’ve got a feeling you Winchesters are going to make my life  _ very _ interesting,” she said, reaching an arm out to turn on her intercom. “Sally, send them in.” As if on cue the office door opened and two students walked in holding folders with the Los Feliz logo on it. “Reggie, Sam, Dean, meet Julie and Nick. They’ll be your tour guides for the day. Now, you three have already missed the first half of the day. Julie’s in Reggie’s year and Nick is one our most aspiring juniors, so he’ll be showing you two around.” She said, turning to Sam and Dean.

“Nice to meet you,” Julie said reaching out her hand. Reggie shook it, wondering how small the world would have to be if she was the Julie Luke and Alex had talked about. “I’m Julie Molina, I’m in the music program too! Come on, we’ve got lunch right now. I’ll take you to the cafeteria then show you around the rest of the school.” Reggie shot Dean a look for help, but his brother was preoccupied by an intense conversation with Nick about rock. With a  _ maybe _ over-dramatic sigh Reggie stood up, shouldered his backpack and followed Julie out of the office. “Cafeteria’s right around the corner,” Julie said as they walked down the hallway.

“So what do you play?” Reggie asked, figuring he might as well start the awkward small talk. Julie shrugged,

“I auditioned with piano, but a friend of mine’s been teaching me guitar lately," she answered, a wistful look in her eyes. Reggie recognized it as the same look Dean wore when he was remembering his mom. He wanted to ask more about her music, but could tell it was going to be a touchy subject. He was going to say something to change the topic as they rounded the corner, but Julie accidentally knocked into someone, sending them both straight to the floor. The girl Julie ran into wore pink from head to toe. The hair on Reggie’s arms stood up, defensive walls stacking before Pink Girl even spoke.

“Sorry Carrie!” Julie squeaked, and Reggie frowned. All the confidence she had before was gone, like getting knocked over had knocked it out of her.

“ _ Ugh _ ! Watch it Molina, I knew you were clumsy but this takes it to another level,” Pink Girl said as her two friends, Purple and Blue Girls helped her up and fixed her hair for her. Julie looked like she wanted to disappear and melt through the floor. Something in Reggie’s gut pulled, a sudden feeling of protectiveness boiling under his skin. He rolled his shoulders back, and reached a hand down to help Julie up.

“Thanks,” Julie said softly, still trying to make herself as small as possible. Reggie took a step between the two girls.

“What’s your problem?” Reggie asked, leveling with Carrie. She scoffed and eyed him with a scrutinizing gaze. Reggie balled his fist in his flannel's pocket. If this chick wanted to have a fight, she regret messing with a Winchester.

“New kid, right?" She asked, Reggie nodded. Flicking her hair she scoffed, "pick the right crowd and you’ll thrive at Los Feliz,” Carrie said with a flick of her hair. Reggie glared at her retreating back. Julie let out a tired sounding sigh,

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. Reggie turned back to find her blinking back unshed tears. “Carrie’s been like that since we started high school, we used to be friends.” He didn’t know the whole story, but Reggie knew one thing. As long as he was alive, he’d never let anyone hurt Julie Molina again. Julie shivered slightly, “I know we just met but uh… you don’t have to but…” Reggie didn’t need to hear anything else, and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest. “You smell like cigarette buds and…  _ pizza _ ?” She asked, pulling away from him. Julie reached up and dried the tears that threatened to fall down her cheek.

“My dad smokes, and pretty much all we eat is take out, mostly pizza,” Reggie explained. A look of panic crossed Julie’s face and Reggie smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it, they can get on my nerves sometimes but I love my family.” Reggie said, holding the cafeteria door open for her. Julie curtsied at him, then walked through the doors to reveal a bustling cafeteria filled with students of all stereotypes.

“I thought only the music program students ate together,” Reggie said as he followed Julie through the winding path between tables. He ducked when someone tried to pass by them with two trays of food. Julie nodded,

“Normally yeah, but there was a morning assembly today so grade levels eat together. Your brothers will have lunch next hour.” She frowned, then scanned the cafeteria.  _ Looking for her friends, _ Reggie thought. He gripped his backpack strap tighter, one of the paralyzing fears he had of starting new schools was sitting alone during lunch. The scathing glares he would usually receive from the more popular students, the jarring comments about being homeless.  _ Home is where my horse is, _ Reggie thought begrudgingly as Julie smiled widely, waving to a table near the back of the cafeteria. “Come on! You’ll like my friends,” Julie said, pulling Reggie through the crowds. He tripped over his feet as he stumbled to the table she was trying to get too. A strong hand caught him just before his face hit the floor.

“We really gotta stop meeting like this man.” Reggie looked up to see Luke’s sparkling concerned eyes staring back at him. Reggie coughed, unsure of how to fill the sudden awkward silence. Luke turned his concern to Julie, “what happened?” He demanded, wrapping Julie up in a hug. Reggie slid into the empty seat next to Alex as Julie explained their Carrie-encounter to him. Luke glanced at Reggie when Julie talked about their hug.

“So… what’s your band called?” Reggie asked, deliberately trying to change the subject. Julie’s smile split across her face and she launched into the reason why they decided to call themselves Julie and The Phantoms.

“It’s actually kind of funny, we all met in a graveyard. I was there visiting uh…” She trailed off, and Luke wrapped a supportive hand around her shoulder. “I was visiting my mom,” Julie said, Reggie winced in sympathy. “The guys were there visiting their friend Bobby. They scared me from behind, just appearing out of nowhere like they were ghosts.” Alex laughed,

“You had earbuds in! How were we supposed to know?” He asked, Julie rolled her eyes and stole a fry from his tray. The air grew heavy with all the talk about loss and graveyards. Flynn, Julie’s friend and apparent band manager stepped in, changing the topic of the conversation to Reggie.

“That’s enough about us,” Julie’s friend Flynn said, leaning closer to Reggie from across the table. “Tell us about you! It must be exciting, visiting all those cities!” Reggie shifted uncomfortably, picking at his lunch tray. He didn’t exactly like talking about his living situation, he loved his family to death, but people always thought it was weird that he didn’t have any friends. He tried to stay in contact with someone once, when he was seven and just got his first hand-me-down cheap burner phone. They stopped messaging him back one day, and Reggie decided friends weren’t worth it as long as he had his brothers.

“It’s fine I guess,” Reggie said offhandedly. “We don’t really hit any  _ big _ cities. It’s all just small town stuff. John tends to get sent someplace new every six months, so it’s hard. We’ve definitely met some interesting people though,” Reggie said, thinking of John’s strange friend Missouri, who told Reggie his destiny was going to be special. She was the one who managed to track down his banjo for him, and got him his first few lessons.

“Yeah? Like who?” Luke asked, Reggie tried to ignore his elevated heartbeat when the guitarist smiled at him.

“Uncle Bobby is definitely an interesting person. Taught me how to shoot a gun when I was seven,” Reggie said, taking a bite out of his sandwich. Luke’s jaw dropped,

“Dude no  _ way _ , that’s so cool! Are you a good shot?” He asked, eyes shining with excitement. Reggie nodded, and couldn’t help but brag about his status as the family’s best shot.

“You bet! I beat Dean’s record last fall when we visited Uncle Bobby’s garage.” Reggie heard his name yelled and turned to see Sam, Dean, and Nick standing in the cafeteria doorway. Reggie waved at them then turned back to the table. Luke slid a notebook across the table with a few bass tabs written on it, along with some guitar harmonies. He could barely make out the chicken-scratched lyrics scribbled underneath the tabs.

“We wrote this out before you and Julie got here,” Luke said anxiously as Reggie read through the tabs, letting the melody weave through his mind. “What do you think?” Reggie hesitated,

“You wrote music for me before you even knew I’d say yes?” Reggie asked, impressed at how…  _ good _ the first few tabs sounded. Luke’s cheeks flushed pink and Alex rolled his eyes.

“Lover boy’s been working on the song for a while,” Alex said, ignoring the adorable looking glare Luke shot him. “He just wrote in the bass part, he’d be crushed if you said no, so he thought you’d say yes if he already wrote you into a song or two.” Reggie had to admit, if the song sounded good in his head he couldn’t  _ wait _ to play it with them in real life.

“It looks really good Luke,” Reggie said, sliding the notebook back across the table. Nick, Sam and Dean all took the empty seats.

“So are you in?” Luke asked hopefully, puppy dog eyes fully activated.  _ That’s not fair, _ Reggie complained in his head,  _ what if I was going to say no? _ Dean looked up at the question, then looked between Reggie and the others at the table. 

“Are you in what?” Dean asked, worry evident in his voice. Reggie rolled his eyes,

“Relax  _ mom _ , I’m not joining a gang. Luke was just asking if I’d join their band.” Sammy hesitated,

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You know dad doesn’t -” Reggie cut off his brother by exchanging a handshake with Julie.

“I’m in, when’s our first rehearsal?” The entire table exploded in cheers and suddenly Reggie was trapped in a group hug. The notion was nice at first, but then he was getting squeezed too tightly. “Guys!” Reggie exclaimed over their loud chatter. “Can’t breathe!” Though the rest of the band let him go, Luke lingered for a few seconds and Reggie buried his head into the nape of Luke’s neck, taking in the sudden warmth. When Luke let him go Reggie instantly wanted to get another hug, but then Luke turned and kissed Nick and any hope Reggie had shattered in his chest. Then, to make matters even more confusing Luke bent low and kissed Julie on the cheek, and Julie and Nick exchanged their own kiss. 

“Here,” Luke said after scribbling something down on a piece of paper. He ripped it off and handed it to Reggie. “My number,” Luke explained, “we usually practice everyday after school at Julie’s house. I’ll text you the address.” Reggie nodded and carefully folded up the paper and slid it into his chest pocket, buttoning it shut. Dean glared at him and Reggie knew he was definitely in for it when they got home. Sammy just sighed and turned the page of his textbook, already trying to catch up on assignments.

“Dad’s not going to let you join a  _ rock band _ ,” Dean hissed, pulling Reggie aside. Reggie just crossed his arms and stared at his brother.

“Dad doesn’t have to know. It’s not like I’ll be the only one keeping secrets in this family Dean. I still don’t understand why you can’t just  _ tell _ me what’s going on. Ever think I might be able to help?” Reggie asked as Dean groaned in frustration. At this point Reggie didn’t even care that they were still technically within earshot of the lunch table, meaning the band could hear their entire conversation.

“We’re keeping things from you so you stay  _ safe _ you idiot,” Dean said as if that excused the fourteen years of lying to him. Reggie glared at Dean,

“That’s not good enough anymore Dean. We’re here for the year, and I’m doing this for  _ me _ ,” he said, realizing the truth behind why he wanted to join Julie and Luke’s band in the first place. “Because for once we’re staying somewhere long enough for me to actually have a social life.” Dean’s jaw clicked shut and his eyes narrowed. His fist was balled at his side, and Reggie winced, expecting Dean to finally follow in John’s footsteps and hit him. A small crowd of students took notice of their little fight, phones out and taking videos. Dean huffed,

“Whatever Reggie, do what you want. Dad won’t find out from me, but the second he says you have to quit, you quit.” Dean said, like John still had a say in what happened in Reggie’s daily life. Reggie rolled his eyes,

“Yes sir,” he said sarcastically. He gave Dean a mocking salute then returned to his seat between Alex and Julie. Luke looked like he wanted to say something, but Reggie shook his head. “Sorry about that, brothers, am I right?” He asked, the not so subtly changed the subject of their conversation to the band again. He just met the band, he just met  _ his _ band, but Reggie felt like something finally slid into place. Like when Reggie agreed to join the band he set a greater plan in motion.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reggie joins a group chat.
> 
> And he takes the opportunity of being alone to investigate his Sam and Dean's recent strange behavior.

The rest of the day went by faster than Reggie would’ve liked, and soon enough he was stuck in the backseat of the Impala. Dean was blasting some weird screamo rock music, which he usually did when he was pissed about something. Reggie just rolled his eyes, ignoring his brother’s attempt at starting a fight. He took out the piece of paper with Luke’s phone number on it and added the name  _ Luke Patterson _ to his contact list… if he added a heart-eye emoji or two after Patterson, no one but Reggie had to know.

_ Reggie is online, Luke Patterson is online. _

_ Reggie: Hey dude! It’s Reggie, added your number to my contacts. _

_ Luke: Sweet! Give me one second! _

_ Luke Patterson is offline _

Reggie hoped he hadn’t overstepped his boundaries, not even waiting a day before adding Luke to his contacts. He drummed his fingers against the arm of the door to the beat of the song Dean was playing. His phone pinged and when he checked the notification it read,  _ Luke Patterson has invited you to join the group chat: Gays, Bis, Polys Oh My! _ Reggie snorted at the chat name, then accepted the invitation.

_ Reggie Colman has accepted his invitation to join Gays, Bis, Polys Oh My! _

_ Luke Patterson is online, unknown is online, unknown is online, unknown is online, unknown is online. _

_ GayDisaster: Guys shut up! Reggie can’t know we’re all gay! _

_ Reggie: Too late. _

_ Reggie: Can you guys all send your real names for a hot second? I only have Luke’s number saved. _

_ GayDisaster: I’m Julie. _

_ QueenJules: I’m Flynn. _

_ Sucks2bPoly: I’m Alex. _

_ JulesIsMyQueen: I’m Nick. _

_ Luke: Guys stop messing with him! _

_ QueenJules: Fine, ur boring. I’m Julie. _

They all sent their real names into the chat and Reggie added their numbers into his contact list, including the nicknames they used. When Dean parked in front of their apartment Reggie slammed his door shut, grabbed his banjo by the strap, and pushed past his brothers to their door. He left his key in his room, so he ended up picking the lock. He crossed the threshold of their mini kitchen and shut his bedroom door behind him, not wanting to get into two fights with Dean in the same day. Finally alone, Reggie rested his banjo on the hooks on the wall then flopped onto his bed, the mattress springs squeaking under his weight. “Dinner’s every man for himself!” Dean yelled through Reggie’s door. Reggie rolled his eyes,

“I’ll be fine!” He yelled back, “go have sex with someone!” Reggie connected to his bluetooth speaker and started to blast country music as a way to defy his brother. His attention was pulled out of the real world as he focused back on the band’s group chat.

_ Gays, Bis, and Polys Oh My! _

_ Reggie Coleman is online, Julie Molina is online, Flynn is online, Luke Patterson is online, Alex is online, Nick is online. _

_ Luke: Reggie are you still here? _

_ Luke: Guys you scared him away! _

_ Julie: Luke hes still in the chat. _

_ Nick: Yeah give us a little more credit than that. We wouldn’t scare your crush off so soon. _

_ Luke: ldslkafpdkjagjepeireadpj _

_ Alex: Guys we broke him. _

_ Flynn: If anything it’s ur fault we scared him away b/c u sent him the chat invite. _

_ Reggie: Luke Im still here. It’ll take more than one prank to scare me off. _

_ Nick: That sounds like a challenge. _

_ Julie: I noticed you ignored the crush part. _

_ Nick: Julie you already have two boyfs. _

_ Julie: so what? Open invitation means open invintation. _

_ Luke: God not another prank war. _

_ Julie: I’m pulling an audible, Nick don’t start a prank war you know you won’t be able to finish. _

_ Reggie: You guys have had prank wars before? _

_ Flynn has set an image _

Reggie snorted a laugh, instead of Nick's hair being it’s usual shades of red, it had been dyed purple. The last prank war he had with Dean ended with Reggie putting Nair in Dean’s shampoo, but their dad used it before Dean did so John had forbade them from pulling any more pranks… especially when one time Sam ended up hollowing out the Impala’s shotgun seat, so Dean sunk to the car’s floor when the next time he sat on it. Pranks were all fun and games with the Winchesters, until the Impala got hurt.

_ Gays, Bis, and Polys oh my! _

_ Reggie: lmfao, reminds me of the time I put Nair in Dean’s shampoo. _

_ Nick: You and I will be good friends. _

The apartment door slammed shut, and Reggie looked out his window in time to see Dean and Sam speed away from their building in the Impala. 

_ Gays, Bis, and Polys oh my! _

_ Reggie: guys I’ll check back in later. _

_ Luke Patterson: Is everything ok? _

_ Reggie: y have to dig through my brother's shit to find something. _

_ Julie: I h8 when Carlos goes through my stuff. _

_ Reggie: Who’s Carlos? _

_ Flynn: Her little brother. _

_ Reggie: oh. Well, Carlos isn’t keeping some big family secret from you is he? _

_ Julie: Not that I know of… _

_ Luke Patterson: Stay safe! _

_ Reggie Coleman is offline. _

He lowered the volume of his country music before peeking his head out of his bedroom door. Once he was satisfied that both Sammy and Dean left him alone in the apartment he stepped out into the kitchen where his brothers left newspaper clippings and scribbled notes lying on the table. Most of the articles were memoirs from the recently deceased in the area. “What the hell are you guys getting into?” Reggie muttered, flicking through a notebook written in Sam’s handwriting.  _ Unhinged spirit? Woman in white? Salt or iron? _ was scribbled in the margins of a book on local lore and monsters. 

Reggie scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out what his brothers were doing with books about myths. His attention turned from the papers to the stack of books littering the counters. “If I was Dean, where would I hide something?” Reggie wondered as he started to pace back and forth. The wooden paneling near Dean and Sammy’s room squeaked and Reggie froze. He walked back over the squeaking wood, jumping up and down on the paneling. He reached to the knife block on the counter and grabbed the biggest one available. “This is  _ insane _ ,” Reggie muttered, using the wood to pry up the loose wood. He pulled up a few of the other surrounding planks before reaching down to unzip one of the duffle bags shoved into the secret hiding place. He pulled his phone out and turned on the flashlight to see what was in the hole. Using his free hand he dug in the duffle bag and pulled out a gun.

Guns, as in plural.

His family had  _ guns _ , big ones judging by the shadows casted by his light.

There were a lot of guns, cans of spray paint, a twenty pound bag of salt, and numerous other weapon looking-things like wooden steaks and iron rod pokers, which didn’t make any sense to Reggie at all. Panic seizing in his chest Reggie put the weapon back where he found it and zipped up the bag. He carefully replaced the wooden planks, pressing on them to make sure it wasn’t obvious that he found the hiding spot. “Fuck what do I do?” Reggie wondered, starting to sweat due to how stressed he was. His thoughts started to spiral out of control, worst case scenario after worst case scenario. His family could be some sort of mafia gang, his dad has probably killed people before.  _ Maybe he made Dean and Sam kill someone, what would happen if they found out that Reggie found the weapons? Would they kill him for it? Would they make Reggie kill someone for it? _ Just as his panic hit a whole new level the shrill sound of his phone ringing cut through the air. He scampered across the floor and checked the caller ID. Letting out a sigh of relief Reggie slid his thumb across the screen to answer the call.

_ “Reggie is everything okay?”  _ Luke asked, sounding worried.  _ “It’s been a few hours since you stopped texting us, I got worried.” _ Reggie sunk to the ground, back against his closed bedroom door.

“Fine - ” he coughed, “ - I’m fine Luke.”

_ “It doesn’t sound like you’re fine. Reggie, what can I do to help?” _ Luke asked, Reggie wished the guitarist could wrap him up in a hug. Unfortunately that wasn’t an option, so Reggie just hugged his flannel tighter around his chest.  _ “Reggie, you there?” _

“Yeah,” Reggie said, voice hoarse to the point of it being unrecognizable. He managed to regain control over his breathing, short shallow breaths, but it was better than the hyperventilating panic he felt before. A silence fell over the phone call, then Luke started humming, singing. The song was slow, peaceful, calming. Reggie took a shaky breath as he let Luke’s voice wrap around him like a warm blanket, protecting him from the horrors he discovered about his family.

“Reggie? Are you going to be okay?” Luke asked after Reggie didn’t talk for a few minutes. Reggie ran a hand through his hair, cringing at how sweaty and gross it was after his panic attack.

“I will be,” Reggie answered back, because he knew he would be eventually. Things were strained with his brothers right now, even more so because of the whole monsters-in-the-dark thing. He made new friends though, friends like Luke, who he knew he could trust. Friends like Luke, who he definitely liked -  _ loved _ \- a lot. “Promise,” he whispered, pulling his legs to his chest.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reggie sings with Luke during band practice and has another GayPanicTM.
> 
> Sleepovers and softness occur.
> 
> Now Edited With Bonus Ruke Fluff!

The week following Reggie’s discovery was awkward. He tried to play it cool whenever he was in the room with Sam or Dean, but how the _hell_ was he supposed to play it cool when they had a literal arsenal stored under their kitchen floor? The only reason why Sam and Dean haven’t caught on to the fact that he knew something was because if he wasn’t at school or at home sleeping Reggie was spending time with the band, _his_ band. After the first time they played together something inside Reggie shifted when he watched Julie and Luke exchange the vocals. It was as though a missing puzzle piece locked into place, making his soul _whole_ . He wasn’t exactly sure where Sam and Dean were currently, and he couldn’t bring himself to care enough to ask them. “Reggie, you good?” Luke asked, looking at him from across the garage. Reggie was so eternally grateful for the fact that Luke agreed to not tell the rest of the band about their phone call. _It was a one off_ , Reggie had said the next day at school when Luke asked him about it. _I’m sorry I scared you,_ he apologized, then Luke made him sob by telling him he could always talk to him about anything.

“Yeah,” Reggie said, grabbing his water bottle off the floor. He twisted the cap off and took a quick sip, and collected his thoughts. “I got distracted, sorry.” He said apologizing, Luke seemed to believe him for the time being. Julie watched him carefully, like she knew something was wrong. “Guys! Chill, it’s just family drama,” Reggie said, scratching the back of his neck. Aelx just rolled his eyes,

“When isn’t it family drama with you three?” Alex asked, referencing Sam and Dean. Nick strummed a chord and Reggie cringed at how out of tune it sounded.

“That sounds rough,” Luke noted as Nick re-tuned his six string. Julie just flicked through her music sheets then said,

“If Luke’s gay panic is settled, can we get back to _Bright_?” She asked, ignoring Reggie, who choked slightly at the sight of Luke blushing furiously. “I still think we need to switch up some of the phrases in the lyrics,” Julie explained as she started playing the introduction. Luke and Nick filled in the guitar parts as Alex started to play the beat. Luke did a really good job writing the song, but Julie was right… some of the lyrics sounded out of place. They got to the pre-chorus when Luke stammered over the duet part of the song.

“Maybe if we switch the chorus with the pre chorus?” Reggie asked, hopping he wasn’t overstepping, it _was_ only his second week playing with them after all. Luke hesitated,

“I don’t know, I think they sound fine the way they are.” Alex just sighed and turned to Reggie,

“Sing it the way you hear it otherwise he’ll be rewriting the chorus for the next month.” Reggie glanced at Julie, who nodded at him with an encouraging smile.

“Go on, I’m sure it’ll be awesome!” She exclaimed, shooting Luke a warning look when he was about to protest. Luke shrugged,

  
“Why not? Not like it could sound _worse_ .” Reggie mentally psyched himself up, he’d never sung in _front_ of people before. At least, not in front of anyone other than his family. Taking a shaky breath he leaned forward to his microphone.

“ _Life’s a risk but I will take it, close my eyes and jump,”_ Reggie sang, watching his band to see if they thought he was a band. When no one said anything he continued on, adding a little bit of country twang into his voice. _“Together I think that I will make it, come on let’s run!”_ To his surprise, the rest of the band all jumped into the chorus of the song, singing with wide smiles on their faces. Luke and Julie joined on the harmonies, their voices blending perfectly with Reggie’s. _“And rise through the night, you and I!”_ Reggie sang, a giggle escaping when Luke shot him a dorky grin.

_“We will fight to shine together,”_ Luke sang, crossing the studio floor to share Reggie’s mic. Reggie gulped, feeling the heightened amount of chemistry shared between them. His stomach did flip flops as Luke finished off the rest of the chorus. _“Bright forever,”_ Luke sang, Julie trailing off the end with a riff. Reggie stared in to Luke’s green eyes (had they always had those little golden flecks in them when he smiled?), and they were close enough that Reggie could smell the aftershave Luke wore to impress the girls who showed up to their gigs. Julie coughed lightly, pulling Reggie back to the present. Luke grinned, “dude that sounded _sick_!” He exclaimed, grabbing Reggie’s shoulder with his hand. Reggie tensed at the contact, but Luke didn’t seem to notice, instead pulling Reggie in for a hug.

“Yeah?” Reggie asked, still frazzled by their shared chemistry when they sang together. His brain was trying to catch up so he could form coherent sentences instead of blabbing like he did when he first met Luke. Alex hit his drumsticks together,

“Dude, that was so cool! The way you worked the country into it? Even better!” Alex exclaimed, Reggie blushed under the praise. The closest thing to a compliment he’d get from his dad or Dean was a _good job squirt_ when he ended up firing his first gun… ten years ago. 

“Thanks,” Reggie said, suddenly uncomfortable with all the attention. “I never really uh… performed like that before.” Julie’s eyes lit up,

“You’ll absolutely _love_ performing live! The audience, the magic - “

“- the _chemistry_ ,” Alex said cutting in, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Luke threw a notebook at the drummer and Alex dodged it, the notebook hitting the wall behind him. Reggie flushed again, he could feel the blush rising up his neck.

“Sounds great!” He said, voice spiking on the word _great_. Julie sighed,

“We should call it here, don’t wanna mess with the flow before the performance on Saturday.” Alex grinned,

“Movie night?” He asked, and Julie nodded with a grin.

“Movie night, I already checked with my dad, he’s fine if you guys stay over. You just have to seep in the studio after the movie’s over,” Julie said, cuing Alex and Luke’s cheers. Reggie flinched at the sudden outburst of noise.

“You wanna stay?” Luke asked as Reggie secured his bass in the hard case he was borrowing from the school. Reggie hesitated, about to deny the invitation, when Julie took a step closer to him.

“The invitation is open for the whole band Reg,” Julie assured him. If Reggie was being perfectly honest, he’d much rather prefer staying the night in the studio than an awkward night in the apartment, tiptoeing around his brothers. Pulling out his phone he said,

“Let me just ask Dean real quick, I’m sure it’ll be fine.

_Reggie: is it cool if i stay w/the band 2nite? Movie nite tradition pre-gig._

_  
_ _Dean-o: Use a condom ;)_

_Reggie: Fuck off. Tell Sammy I said goodnight._

_Dean-o: It’s a valid concern. I don’t need mini Reginalds running all over the place._

_Reggie: Fuck OFF._

_Dean-o: Love you squirt._

_Reggie: If you loved me you wouldn’t be keeping secrets from me._

_Dean-o is offline._

_Reggie: CoWaRd!_

Reggie shut off his phone and turned to his friends, a smile stretched across his face. “I can stay over!” He said, surprisingly sounding happier than he thought he felt about the whole thing. Luke grinned and Reggie’s smile flip-flopped again, _right,_ Reggie thought as he turned around, blush on his cheeks. _That’s why I’m excited about sleeping over with the band._ Luke set his guitar on the stand nearby, Nick doing the same. Alex climbed out from behind the drum set, ignoring the kicked over snare and fell into place as they all made their way into the Molina's house.

When they all got to the living room Mr. Molina had already set out two large bowls of popcorn. The rest of the band fell into place, settling into what Reggie assumed were their regular movie-night couch positions. Nick was on Alex’s left, with Julie sitting at his right, Luke on her otherside. The couch almost looked too small for all of them to fit, but there was enough space on Luke’s right side for Reggie to squeeze into… next to Luke and his sleeveless, muscle-toned exposed arms. Next to Luke, who Reggie was starting to fall in love with. Next to Luke, who blushed furiously at something Julie whispered into his ear, and suddenly Reggie wished _he_ could make Luke blush like _that_. “Come on Reg!” Luke called out patting the spot next to him. Despite having the invitation, Reggie hesitated. He wasn’t used to such open physical affection, Dean’s version of a hug was a punch to the gut. Luke frowned slightly, “I have two arms for a reason, right?” He asked, shoving aside the blankets so Reggie had a place to sit.

“You sure? I mean, I don’t uh - you - uh - I mean -” Reggie said, tripping over his words again. Luke’s face dropped, like he was a kicked puppy dog. Julie rolled her eyes,

“Cuddling is a plus side to movie nights, just come on so Luke drops the sad puppy dog look.” Luke made a sound of protest, but Reggie pushed his gay panic down under lock and key and leapt onto the couch next to Luke. Maybe if he just… stayed as far away from Luke as he could in the close proximity - _nope -_ apparently Luke had other ideas. The second Reggie slumped onto the couch next to him, he wrapped his free arm around Reggie’s back and pulled him close to his chest. Luke tensed,

“Is this okay?” Luke asked, looking down at Reggie who was taking in the heat that radiated off of Luke’s body. Reggie smiled up at him,

“Yeah. This is okay,” Reggie said, chest full with the warmth of those golden flecks that found their way back into Luke’s eyes. _I’m so screwed,_ Reggie thought as Luke kept pulling him closer, trapping him under his arm.

“What movie are we watching tonight Molina?” Nick asked, flicking through the stack of dvds. Julie shrugged,

“Don’t know. Let’s see what’s on Disney plus.” She turned on the streaming service and began flicking through the titles. Reggie stole a handful of popcorn then said,

“I’ve never seen a Disney movie before.” The room stopped, silent enough you could hear a pin drop. Julie stared at him in disbelief,

“Did I hear that right?” She asked. Reggie shrugged,

“We only watched what was free on the motel tv rooms. Mostly reruns of Scooby-Doo.” Julie settled on a movie called _The Little Mermaid._

“Disney made a movie about a mermaid?” Reggie asked, wondering what on earth the film could be about. Julie nodded,

“It’s the _best_ . My mom and I watched it all the time when I was little.” That cinched it, and Reggie settled onto Luke’s chest, for the first time feeling _safe_ since he moved to LA. Sue him if he fell asleep during the first song, Luke’s chest made for a very, very comfortable pillow.

* * *

Reggie woke up in a cold sweat, still pressed between Luke and the arm of Julie’s family room couch. “You okay?” Luke asked, eyes shining with concern. Reggie’s body shook in response. He didn’t remember what he dreamed about, just that whatever it was _terrified_ him to his core. Luke shifted and Reggie tightened his grip on the guitarist, keeping them both in place. “Alright then…” Luke said, trailing off. “You wanna talk about it?” Reggie lifted his head to see if anyone else was in the room, then frowned when he saw they were the only two people left. “Alex and Nick slept in the guest room, Julie went upstairs after the movie ended. She said we could stay here since you were out like a light.” Reggie frowned, his lips curving downward as he buried his face into Luke’s chest.

“‘M sorry,” Reggie muttered, not really sure what he was apologizing for, just that he had to apologize for something. Luke breathed slowly, calm even breaths for Reggie to focus on. He refused to look at Luke, embarrassed at being so shook by a nightmare. He wasn’t a fucking kid anymore, and it’s not like monsters were real… _right?_ Luke hummed softly, knotting his fingers in Reggie’s hair, the repetitive motion helped ground him.

“What’s going on in that head of yours hmm?” Luke whispered, Reggie appreciated the fact that he kept his voice low. Reggie hummed in response, wrapping his arms around Luke’s chest so he was fully on top of him. Luke let out a laugh, the sound warm in Reggie’s mind.

“I don’t know,” Reggie mumbled into Luke’s shirt. “Everything’s so… confusing.” Luke bent low and Reggie could feel him smile into the back of his head. His family were potentially wanted serial killers, he was confused because he likes Luke, but he _also_ likes Julie, and they’re already both in an established relationship. Which just made him even more confused as to why Luke was snuggling with him on the couch instead of spending time with his actual _girlfriend_ . He was confused because he knew he liked - _loved_ \- Luke, but he never got too attached with people because his dad would move before he could actually start dating anyone.

“Hey,” Luke said, tilting Reggie’s head up. Reggie tried to smile at Luke, because Luke seemed to like it when he smiled, but all he was able to muster up was a weak half-grin. “We’ll figure out whatever it is, right?” Reggie nodded, still not able to respond vocally. He burrowed back under Luke’s arms, his presence soft, solid, _real_.

“I’m sorry,” Reggie said, once again apologizing. It was all he seemed to be able to say.

“You said that already,” Luke pointed out causing Reggie to smile a little bit happier. “There’s that smile!” Luke said as he reached forward, brushing Reggie’s hair back and away from his face. “I know this is… new… that you aren’t exactly used to having friends but you know you can talk to me right?” Luke asked, puppy dog eyes fully active. Reggie nodded,

“I know I just… think I need to figure this out first before I talk to you about it…” he said, trailing off. Luke frowned slightly, but seemed to believe him. The guitarist settled back into the couch, letting Reggie curl up around him. It was still early in the morning after all, and Reggie was still exhausted by his sudden busy schedule.

“We’ve got a few hours before we have to start getting ready for the gig. See if you can’t get some more sleep,” Luke said, pulling a soft blanket around Reggie. Reggie wrapped it around them both tighter, relishing in the soft comforting feeling of the fabric. His eyes fluttered shut again as Luke’s soft voice once again filled his ears.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reggie makes his first public debut as a member of Julie and The Phantoms.
> 
> Caleb Covington makes a guest star appearance.

Anxiety bubbled as they started setting up for their soundcheck. The restaurant they had the gig at was more like a dive bar, but hey, a gig is a gig, so Reggie wasn’t complaining. Plus Flynn, the band’s manager and Julie’s apparent best friend, was good at her job. Mr. Molina made them all swear they wouldn’t try to score a drink, which meant Reggie couldn’t bribe the bartender with his fake ID and the wad of ten dollar bills he stole from Dean’s wallet before he left the apartment… despite the fact that John gave Reggie his first beer when he was thirteen. And Reggie  _ so _ wanted to bribe the bartender for a beer right now, just one to calm the nerves that sent goosebumps down his spine. He thought playing for a live audience for the first time was going to be  _ easy _ , but they were barely past the soundcheck and he was already a wreck. So here Reggie was, sitting at the edge of the tiny stage waiting for Alex to finish setting up the drum kit. 

Julie and Luke were talking up the owner of the restaurant and working the crowds. They were the people-people of the band, Reggie learned when Alex finally told him about his anxiety. Reggie said he’d shoot Alex’s anxiety if he could, which made Luke laugh, the sound ingrained itself into Reggie’s soul. He watched Luke as he worked the crowd, the evening patrons starting to settle into the booths. Reggie didn’t know how anyone could look so  _ good _ in such god awful lighting. They all changed into more… appropriate performance-wear before the show, deciding it was better than just showing up in day-old clothes. 

When Luke finally jumped down from the loft Reggie decided the guitarist was personally victimized him on purpose. He decided to wear jeans that were one size too tight and hugged his ass in  _ just _ the right way. His shirt was a sleeveless button up, black to match the pants. A chain was attached to his hip, looped around his front and back belt hooks, hanging loosely at his side. Reggie watched as Luke flirted with a group of teens, jealous that Luke wasn't talking to _ him _ instead. "Reggie!" Alex shouted, shoving him slightly. Reggie blinked back to the real world, fingers kneading themselves together. "You okay?" Alex asked, concern in his eyes. "Look man, you're going to kill it during the performance!" Reggie let out a shaky laugh, then eyed Luke again, who was now hitting on a few girls near the middle of the small floor.

“Thanks,” Reggie said quietly, looking down at his hands, which were  _ still  _ fidgeting. Alex reached out and grabbed Reggie’s hands, holding them in place. Alex looked at Reggie with wide eyes, concen sparkling in them.

“Hey, you’re one of the best bassists in the city! Are Sam and Dean coming tonight?” Alex asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice. Reggie shook his head, thinking of the recent uptick in fights and alcoholism in the apartment.

“No. They aren’t exactly…  _ supportive _ of my music,” Reggie said, looking down so he didn’t have to see the look of pity on Alex’s face. “John’s dropped hints about following his footsteps in the family business, but no one seems to want to tell me  _ what _ the family business actually is.” Alex let out a soft chuckle,

“Good to know you’re keeping the band’s traditions of having shitty families alive. Well, at least Luke and I’s families, not the Molina’s. Ray’s really great once you get to know him.” Reggie let out a soft laugh.

“Well, I’d be drinking a beer right now instead of talking about my feelings if it wasn’t for Ray so he’s got that going for him right now,” Reggie said with a chuckle. Alex smiled at Reggie, who suddenly realized how cute the drummer’s hair looked when the light hit it just  _ right _ . Fuck, at least his second gay panic is about a guy he knew was actually gay.

“That doesn’t sound healthy,” Alex commented, jumping onto the stage next to Reggie. Reggie shrugged, and couldn’t help but remember the first time John and Dean fought… I really fought. He didn’t catch most of it, only that it was about Sammy, and that Dean didn’t want them to find out about something. “Hey, fuck family yeah? You got us now,” Alex said giving Reggie a playful shove. Reggie nodded, his eyes once again finding Luke in the crowd, laughing at something a patron said.

“Yeah, fuck family,” Reggie said as Alex wrapped him up in a hug. His hugs were different than Luke’s, but Alex’s hugs were a  _ good _ different. Since Alex wasn’t wearing his usual oversized pink sweatshirt, Reggie could feel his slender arms wrap around his chest. Alex’s hugs were warm, and he pulled Reggie close enough for Reggie to feel his breath on the back of his neck. He was so,  _ so _ fucking screwed. Why did his band mates have to be so damn hot? Was the universe finally giving him payback for all the times he was an ass to Dean and John? Julie wrapped up her conversation with the owner and waved at Reggie, who looked at her from over Alex’s shoulder. She pulled Luke away from his conversation, dragging him to the stage. Reggie dropped his arms, and Alex did the same.

“Awe!” Julie cried out, “did we miss a hug session?” She asked, crossing her arms and pouting her lips. Luke slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in for a soft forehead kiss. Reggie looked away, and accidentally met Alex’s eyes again.

“You can always have a hug session with me Jules,” Luke said flirtatiously, Julie whacked his chest with her arm and Luke let out a pained grunt. Reggie pulled himself onto the stage, then helped Alex stand up. Julie and Luke stepped up on the stage, and Reggie pointedly turned his back on them, double-checking the tuning on his bass. The talk with Alex really helped with Reggie’s nerves, the hug helped way more than a beer ever did. Reggie looked back at the drums and smiled at Alex, who smiled back at him. A warm feeling flowed through Reggie’s bones, which only confused him more because  _ wasn’t he supposed to be simping on Luke? _

The energy from the crowd grew and Reggie suddenly understood why his friends loved performing so much. It was one of the  _ best _ highs he ever felt in his life. Luke’s raspy rock ‘n roll voice blasted through the speakers as Reggie and Alex chimed in for the harmonies of  _ Bright _ as Juliei took the echoed lyrics. “Thank you!” Luke yelled over the audience’s cheers

“We’re Julie and Phantoms and tonight, we’re debuting the newest member of our band,  _ Reggie Coleman! _ ” Julie shouted, smiling at him like he lit up the sun. That was Reggie’s cue to improvise a short solo to mark the momentous occasion. 

His vision tunneled, and he fumbled over the next few notes. Instead of shredding his solo, Reggie’s eyes focused on one man dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, standing in the center of the crowd. The cheers from the audience faded around him though, and all Reggie could do was focus on a man in the audience. The mysterious man’s blue eyes pierced into Reggie’s soul and a feeling of cold dread wrapped around his spine. Reggie shivered, a wave of cold crashing over him like someone dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. Something about the man drew Reggie in, like he put Reggie under some sort of spell. Reeling him in like he was a fish attached to the end of a hook, and the man was fishing for  _ him _ . A smile cracked across the man’s face and he waved at Reggie. The man’s eyes darkened, and Reggie tried to fight against his pull.

“Reggie?” Luke asked, suddenly breaking the mysterious man’s spell. Reggie blinked and the audience’s sound roared around him, pulling him back into the present. Shaking his head clear Reggie shredded on his bass, fingers flying expertly up and down the neck. As he played he crossed the stage, switching places with Julie. Reggie melted as Luke eyed him from his microphone stand. He looked proud of Reggie, he looked  _ happy _ for him. Reggie grinned back at Luke and finished his solo with a flourish,, swinging his arm around as he strummed the last few chords on his bass. He looked back into the crowd, but the mysterious man from earlier had disappeared.

“Thank you!” Reggie called out, riding off of the high from the audience’s applause. “We’re Julie and the Phantoms, tell your friends!” He winked at a group of teens sitting at a table nearby the stage, and they all giggled at him.  _ Fuck, maybe I still like girls, _ Reggie thought as he eyed their risque outfits, short shirts and crop tops seemed to be all the rage at gigs nowadays. The few lights blinking above them acting like stage lights shut off, and Reggie was instantly trapped in Luke’s arms again.

“Dude, you  _ killed _ it!” Luke exclaimed, the perfromance’s energy overflowing out of him. His behavior reminded Reggie of an overexcited golden retriever. Reggie blushed, feeling the heat rising up his neck. Alex leapt over his bass drum and joined them, slinging an arm around Reggie’s shoulder, which only made him flush deeper.

“Think so?” Reggie asked, still unsure of how good he actually was. He loved his friends, but they were the kind of people who would encourage him to do something: even if he sucked at it. Flynn stepped up to the stage with a wide smile on her face.

“Debuting Reggie here was a  _ brilliant _ idea Luke!” Flynn shouted, happily scrolling through the band’s socials on her phone. “He’s already got a following, fan accounts! Guys, the internet loves him!” Reggie suddenly felt self conscious about all the attention, Dean was right, joining the band was a bad idea. His dad would never let him stick with it if playing with the guys and Julie plastered his face all over social media.

“Reg, you okay?” Luke asked, sensing his sudden anxiety. Reggie did the second worst thing in his life,  _ he lied to Luke Patterson _ .

“Yeah,” Reggie said, voice cracking slightly. He hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt. “It’s just… a lot.” Luke nodded,

“I get it, I remember the first gig we all played together. Man, it definitely brings back memories huh?” The five of them settled into a booth as Mr. Molina broke down the video equipment he set up to record the performance with. Julie and Flynn sat on one side of the booth, while Reggie was wedged between Luke and Alex on the other side. A waiter stopped by to pour them all glasses of water, which they were grateful for. Their throats often got dry after a show.

Despite his best efforts Reggie couldn’t ignore the close proximity they were all sitting in. He was sandwiched between the two hottest guys he ever met. Alex and Luke’s legs pressed against his… Luke’s arm that was casually resting against the back of the bench. Reggie could feel the heat from Luke’s bare arm against his chest, and leaned back ever so slightly so his head was resting in the palm of Luke’s hand. Luke’s fingers immediately started to twist through his hair, Reggie relaxed as Luke continued the motion. Julie smiled at them both, like she knew something they didn’t.

“You know,” Julie said after a few minutes of silence. “If we got our shit together we’d probably be able to record a demo.” Alex choked on his water, spitting it over the table. Flynn let out a noise of disgust, then threw a napkin at him to help him dry up the spill.

“No offense Julie, but when we were Sunset Curve it took us three years just to get an industry contact. Much less studio time,” Alex said, and Reggie could see his thoughts running millions of miles an hour. Julie frowned slightly,

“But we aren’t Sunset Curve, we’re Julie and The Phantoms.” Luke shifted, pulling his arm out from behind Reggie’s neck. Reggie frowned at the sudden lack of warmth, then realized the conversation was more serious than their usual friendly banter.

“We weren’t always Julie and The Phantoms Jules,” Luke said as he leaned his forearms on the table. Reggie almost got distracted by the beads of sweat running down the guitarist’s strong muscular arms…. He  _ almost _ got distracted by Luke’s arms. If you asked him, he never even noticed they existed.

“Luke, Bobby would have wanted for you guys to move on. I don’t know the full story, how he died or what your last conversations were… but if he really was your band mate he’d want this for you two.” Julie said, and she was right in a way. Reggie didn’t know the whole situation either, but if this.. Bobby cared about Alex and Luke, he’d want them to play music again. Reggie exchanged a look with Flynn, who shrugged helplessly. Evidently this wasn’t the first time Julie and Luke were having this argument.

“We don’t have enough songs for a demo anyways,” Reggie pointed out, trying to play mediator between his friends. He didn’t want them to start fighting, he  _ hated _ when the people he cared about fought with each other. Maybe it was a side effect from Johns alcoholism fits, but it was still true. Julie rolled her eyes,

“I know for a fact you have tons of unfinished songs in your notebook! We can just work on those,” Julie said, nodding at the songbook in question, which was lying on the table, closed. Luke’s fist curled around the spine of the notebook. Reggie had never seen Luke so… upset about something. Next to him Alex had reached out his hand and grabbed Reggie’s knee under the table, so he was trapped.

“We aren’t stealing Bobby’s songs! I won’t record them without giving him credit, he at least deserves that.” Luke said, anger fading away. Reggie’s chest relaxed as Luke returned his hand to playing with Reggie’s soft hair. Julie just sighed and dropped the argument for now, eyes softening when she looked at Reggie. Reggie, who suddenly felt utterly  _ exhausted _ . His head lolled to the side, resting on Luke’s shoulder. Alex hummed then untied his sweatshirt from his waist and wrapped Reggie up in it like a makeshift blanket.

“Okay,” Julie said softly, “I’m sorry,” she said apologizing. Luke smiled at her, eyes shining with sparkles in them.

“It’s alright Jules, I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” Reggie blinked, finding it harder to stay awake to listen to the conversation.

“I think we should get mister badass-bass-player home,” Luke said, whispering it into Reggie’s hair. Reggie mumbled something unintelligently and curled around Luke’s arm. Mr. Molina walked up to the table with a grin on his face,

“Alright you guys, I’ve got everything packed in the gear van. You ready to get out of here?” Mr. Molina asked, though Reggie was tired Ray looked like he was exhausted on a whole ‘nother level. Reggie just sighed tiredly, trying to soak in as much Luke and Alex as he could before he had to go back home to the apartment. They struggled to climb into the eight-person van apparently named Lucille. Alex launched into a long story about how they got the van, but between getting shoved basically on Luke’s lap, and Julie’s soft hands which rubbed circles against his back.

Reggie convinced Luke he didn’t need to walk him up to the apartment itself, and just dropping him off at the front door was alright. Once Lucille had disappeared in the distance Reggie dug into his pocket and pulled out his keys. With a sigh he slid his key into the lock and braced himself for the seven levels of stairs he had to climb.

When he opened his apartment door the sound of a gun clicking echoed in his ears. Reggie squeaked in surprise and dropped to the ground, covering the back of his head. “Where the hell have you been?” Dean asked, knee pressed against Reggie’s back. After the initial shock wore off Reggie’s self defense training kicked in and he twisted, taking Dean down and pressing his arm against Dean’s throat.

“Out, with friends. I texted you last night I’d be out late,” Reggie hissed, knocking the gun away from Dean’s reach. Dean let out a strand of curse words before he tapped out of Reggie’s hold.

“Next time let us know if you’ll be out  _ all _ weekend. We got worried, what if something happened?” Dean asked, and Reggie found he felt guilty because of how scared Dean sounded. Reggie took in their surroundings, instead of news articles strewn on the kitchen table they were hung up around the kitchen like a crime board. Red yarn connected pictures creating a web of crazy that made absolutely zero sense to Reggie.

“I’m going to sleep,” Reggie said, not in the mood to deal with his family’s bullshit lies. “Tomorrow’s Sunday so if you wake me up early I’ll kill you.” He ducked into his bedroom before Dean could say anything else, locking the door behind him. Reggie changed into more comfortable clothes, sweatpants and a flannel, before unceremoniously throwing himself onto his bed. As he fell asleep he thought of Luke and Alex, their warmth protecting them from demons haunting his mind.

_ When Reggie dreamed, he dreamed of the man in the purple tailored-suit, and two teenagers who were trapped under his control. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reggie finally learns the truth, and realizes who they mysterious man from the gig is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> I'm back babies. This chapter is a little bit shorter than the others, but I promise it'll be worth it because the next chapter is going to put Reggie through the wringer.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> ~ R

The sunlight shined through Reggie’s bedroom window, nightmare still fresh in his mind. Something warm was pressed against his chest and he looked down to see Sam lying sprawled across him. Reggie frowned slightly when he looked at his door and saw a baseball bat wedged underneath his doorknob, keeping the door shut. The sound of Dean yelling was muffled, but Reggie could make it out throught the door.  _ Oh, that explains it, _ Reggie thought offhandedly. 

While Dean took the brunt of John’s verbal abuse, their sorry excuse of a father would come home drunk and beat on Sam or Reggie… which explained the goose egg growing on Sam’s forehead. He checked the time on Sam’s wrist and saw it was almost noon, he somehow managed to sleep half the day away. Dean yelled something Reggie couldn’t make out and something slammed into his bedroom door, making it vibrate on it’s hinges.

Reggie’s phone started vibrating, the second he saw it was Luke he answered it. “Hello?” Reggie asked, whispering so John couldn’t hear he was up.

_ “Reg, we were all going to go see a movie. Want us to pick you up?” _ Luke asked, Reggie could hear the hope in his voice. The sound of a shattering glass in the kitchen followed by Dean yelling made Reggie wince. He let out a squawk then pulled his blanket tighter around him.

“Sorry, can’t.” Reggie whispered back. He hoped Luke would just hang up, but of course luck worked against him, and Luke stayed on the phone.

_ “Reggie… are you whispering?”  _ Luke asked, concerned.  _ “What’s going on?” _ Reggie didn’t answer, instead he tried to wriggle out from underneath Sam. Sam apparently had other ideas, because the more Reggie tried to escape the tighter his older brother’s grip got.

“Nothing, I’m fine. Just… dad grounded me for going to the gig without checking with him first. I’ll see you at school on Monday,” Reggie said, words rushed and jumbled. He hung up the phone and dropped it back onto his bedside table. Something in the kitchen crash, and beer leaked into Reggie’s room, the smell filling his nose.

“Reg?” Sam asked, blinking awake. He shifted so Reggie could finally breathe again, rolling to the side. Reggie stood up as he nodded in response.

“I’m fine Sam, I’m going to  _ kill _ him for hurting you though,” Reggie promised. Sam shook his head furiously, soumarsaulting over the bed to trap Reggie between his arms in a tight hug. “Sam!” Reggie growled in complaint, trying to crawl his way out of Sam’s grasp.

“Nope. You’re not going to be killing dad. He’s the one keeping us safe,” Sam said, wincing when another loud crash sounded from the kitchen.

“Running’s always been what you’re good at!” Dean roared as the kitchen door slammed shut. “Asshole!” Dean yelled. After waiting a few minutes Reggie figured their dad must’ve ran out, apparently Sammy did too because he let Reggie go. Someone knocked on the door and Sam shoved Reggie behind him, picking up the baseball bat and slinging it around his wrist.

“Sam wait,” Reggie whispered, pulling his brother back. Sam shrugged him off and kept his attention at the door, ever the protector. “It’s not like dad’s a _ monster _ ,” Reggie said, noting how Sam’s shoulders tensed. Whoever was on the otherside of the door knocked again, hitting the door three times in quick succession.

“It’s Dean,” Sam confirmed after mimicking the knock. He reached forward and twisted open the doorknob to reveal an exhausted looking Dean. Dean rushed into the room and engulfed Reggie in a bone crushing hug. Reggie relaxed, the safety of Dean’s hug settling into his mind. Sammy dropped the back and hugged both of them at he same time, squeezing Reggie between them.

“Dean?” Sammy asked softly as they all pulled away from each other. Dean let out a sigh and collapsed into his desk chair. Reggie watched as his brothers had a silent argument. “I hate it,” Sammy said with a glance at Reggie, who took a sudden interest in the cuffs of his flannel sleeves.

“I know, I do too,” Dean said back. He reached out and put a hand on Sammy’s shoulder. “But dad’s right, Reggie’s been in the dark for too long and… he needs to know.” Reggie let out a cough,

“Uh guys can you stop acting like I’m not in the room?” Reggie asked, looking between them both. He sent out a text to the group chat, telling them to have fun at the movies. Dean snatched Reggie’s phone away, pocketing it. “Hey!” Reggie protested, trying to make a grab for it. Sam just rolled his eyes at their antics. Dean reached to his back and pulled out a journal.

Their dad’s journal.

“Reggie,” Dean said slowly, like Reggie was going to get spooked and run away. “There’s something about us you don’t know yet.”  _ The weapons, _ Reggie thought, the memory of him making the discovery fresh in his mind. Sensing this conversation was going to take a more serious turn, Reggie steeled his gaze, looking Dean in the eyes.

  
“I know about the weapons, the salt and the spraypaint hidden under the kitchen floor,” Reggie said, voice unwavering. “And the fake IDs and salt rounds,” Reggie continued. A brief look of surprise crossed Dean’s face, but he recovered quickly.

“That’ll make this easier then,” Dean said as he tossed the journal at Reggie. Reggie hesitated,

“What does this have to do with anything?” He asked, poking at the notebook like it was going to bite him. “Dad never leaves without it,” Reggie said, not able to recall a time when he saw it lying around the motel room without John present. Dean motioned for him to open it, so he did… and couldn’t help but feel even more confused. The pages were filled with sketches of monsters from his dream.  _ Vampires, Spirits, Undead, Demons... _ Every single monster from horror stories and legends was scrawled within the pages. His dad’s handwriting like chicken scratch embedded into the pages.

“What the hell is this Dean?” Reggie asked, skimming through the pages. Notations on how to kill the monsters, where to find them and different cover stories.  _ Dean’s on crack, _ Reggie decided after a second flip through of the journal.  _ That’s gotta be it, there’s no way this is real, _ Reggie thought, pickpocketing his phone back from Dean. He was expecting for one of his brothers to jump up and shout  _ April Fools! _ saying it’s all a joke. Suddenly he regretted not taking Luke up on his offer.

“This is real,” Dean said with such conviction Reggie couldn’t bring himself to contradict him. Dean flicked the book open to a random page, “this, I promise you Reg, is real.” He pointed at the page for dramatic effect. It was about a place called the Hollywood Ghost Club, his dad’s most recent addition to the journal. Reggie furrowed his eyebrows together when he saw his dad’s notes about a man in a purple suit chicken-scratched into the margin.

“Reggie?” Sam asked cautiously, afraid to overstep. Reggie pointed at the image of the purple eyes his dad had drawn into the corner of the page.

“I’ve seen those before,” Reggie said quietly. The name  _ Caleb Covington _ was written beneath the set of eyes. It seemed his dad didn’t exactly know what Caleb was, scratching out debunked theories and new monsters.

“Where?” Dean asked, voice laced with worry. Sam stood next to Dean as they all stared at the purple eyes.

“He was at my band’s gig this weekend. I didn’t… it felt  _ cold _ when he showed up. Like nothing else in the room mattered but him.” Reggie said, remembering the cold feeling of dread that spiraled up his spine. Dean muttered an impressive strand of cuss words.

“Did he say anything to you?” Sammy asked, grabbing Reggie’s shoulders. “Did you make a deal?  _ Reggie _ !” Sam shouted, shaking his shoulders. Reggie shooko his head,

“No, he didn’t say anything. It was just  _ weird _ . Dean, what’s going on?” Reggie asked, turning to his big brother. Dean ran a hand through his hair.

“That’s why we moved to LA, the Hollywood Ghost Club. The guy who runs it, Caleb Covington, he’s a demon who’s been making deals with people for centuries. We haven’t been able to find an in into the club for weeks,” Dean said, finally letting Reggie in on the truth. Reggie hesitated,

“Maybe he’ll show up at our next gig… we can set a trap. You can do that, right with some sort of monster hunting thing?” Dean shook his head,

“I’m not using my baby brother as bait. Dad wanted to bring you in earlier but… Sammy and I wanted you to have some resemblance of a normal life. Hunting… you’re in this for life Reg,” Dean said as Reggie tried to process all of the new information. Reggie’s finger wrapped around the spine of the journal, tightening his grip on it.

“I - I need to get out of here,” Reggie said, shoving past Dean and rushing out the door. “Just give me time,” Reggie requested, twisting his wrist out of Dean’s grip. Dean let him go, and Reggie bolted, spilling out onto the street as he sprinted away from the apartment building. “Fuck,” Reggie swore as he ran a hand through his hair, pacing back and fourth down the block. His phone rang, and he checked the caller ID. When he saw it was Dean Reggie let the call go to voicemail. He didn’t know where his feet was taking him, he was on auto-pilot. 

He ended up standing outside of Julie’s garage, the studio where he spent the past week of his life practicing with his band. His feet ached, blistering at his ankles and he was exhausted. Not to mention, his flannel wasn’t exactly doing much against the cold night air. Wrapping an arm around himself Reggie took a few steps forward, shuffling his feet agaisnt the gravel. Reggie tightly squeezed his side, taking comfort in the self-hug. Hopefully the rest of the band was still out at the movies, because he really didn’t want to talk to anyone else. Reaching a hand forward Reggie curled his fingers around the doorhandle and pulled the studio doors open.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caleb tears his ugly head.

Luckily the rest of the band was still at the movies, which meant Reggie had the studio to himself. Mr. Molina had extended an open invitation, if he ever needed a place to stay Reggie was welcome to use the studio. The invitation was open to all the band members, apparently the rest of the guys didn't exactly have the best home lives either. "Fuck," Reggie cussed, scratching the back of his head as he started to pace the length of the couch. He drops his leather jacket and John's monster manual on the ground. " _ Shit _ !" he swore again, emphasizing the word. His phone rang, blasting  _ Heat of the Moment _ telling him Dean was the one calling. Reggie pulled out his phone and tossed it to the other side of the room. 

_ Dad hunts monsters, _ Reggie thought, anxiously pacing around the room. He tripped over an amp chord, tumbling onto the ground. Reggie sighed as he laid face down on the smelly twenty five year old studio carpet.  _ Monsters are real and dad actually protects people… sucks he can’t do the same for his own kids, _ Reggie thought, the image of Sam’s bruise and Dean’s haunted eyes filling his mind. He flipped over, arm hitting his bass resting on it’s stand. Reggie looked up to it, wrapping his fingers around its neck. He pulled the bass down and clutched it to his chest. Reggie ran his fingers up and down the bass springs, plucking at the electric without plugging it in first. He didn’t know why but being closer to his instrument made him feel a million times better. Reggie shifted, pulling himself onto the couch with a heaving sigh. 

“Interesting, isn’t it?” Someone asked, the air in the room dropping below freezing. Reggie snapped his head up and saw the man from the club, from his dad’s journal.  _ Caleb Covington _ was standing in the middle of the studio acting like he owned the room.

“What do you want?” Reggie demanded. He tried to stand up, but the man flicked his wrist and Reggie was forced backwards by unseen hands. The studio doors slammed shut, the lock sliding into place and if the cold feeling of dread that coiled down his spine told Reggie anything… he was about to be in a pile of deep,  _ deep _ shit. Fear curdled at the pit of his stomach, like a lump of coal sinking in his chest. Caleb tsked and flashed his eyes purple, summoning a chair from who knows where.

“Such an interesting question, isn’t  _ Winchester _ ?” Caleb asked, voice snaking around the room, warping the shadows around them. Reggie struggled, trying to fight back against the ghost’s magic, but Caleb was too strong. “What do I want that is,” he said, a sickening grin cracking across his face. Reggie had never been more afraid in his life than he did in that precise moment, Caleb’s cold, dead eyes looming in front of him. Reggie felt like Caleb was feeding on him, prying on the fears that were buried in the cracks of his mind. Reggie let out a choked sound in response, something constricting around his throat, preventing him from being able to talk.

“ _ Stop - you -” _ Reggie managed to stutter out, gasping for breath. Caleb’s laughter echoed in the studio, the shadows seemed to have minds of their own, bending to the ghost’s control.

“I’ve got a bone to pick with your father Reginald,” Caleb said like Reggie wasn’t getting choked to death on the couch in front of him. “You see, he’s been a pain in my ass for far too long and well that’s just bad for business.” Caleb’s eyes narrowed and the noose around Reggie’s neck tightened further.

“ _ Fuck _ -” Reggie choked out as his vision hazed black for half a second. Caleb let out another laugh,

“Don’t worry kid you aren’t my type.” Reggie’s stomach curdled at the thought of Caleb using him for sex. “Besides, it’s not just you I’m interested in,” Caleb said. He clapped his hands and Reggie shut his eyes when three bright purple lights flashed in the air. When he heard the sound of people groaning in pain he managed to peel his eyes back open. To his horror his entire band was lying on the floor, faces twisted in pain. It looked like Julie and Alex were unconscious, but by some miracle Luke was still awake. Reggie could only watch as Luke turned on his side, whose eyes widened when he saw Reggie pinned against the couch.

“Luke -” Reggie said, falling into a coughing fit. Luke pushed himself up off the floor, arms shaking as he supported himself.

“Leave him alone!” Luke yelled, stumbling to his feet. He managed to stand up, leaning on Alex’s drums for support. Suddenly being in the same room with his band again sent a wave of strength through him. Caleb turned his attention to Luke, melting into the floor as he crossed the room. With their captor distracted, Reggie managed to push through Caleb’s hold, regaining feeling in his right arm. He could’ve sworn he read something about an incantation in his dad’s journal meant for sending demons back to hell. Sure, Caleb didn’t exactly say what he was but chanting something in latin was better than doing nothing. Luke seemed to notice what Reggie was doing, and kept Caleb distracted by mindless talking about Sunset Curve’s music.

With shaky fingers Reggie flicked through his dad’s journal until he got to the page he was looking for. It was stuck between a journal entry and a page rambling about some sort of haunted house.  _ Got it! _ Reggie thought victoriously, a feeling of hope broke through the cold he felt from Caleb. His entire left side was still stuck where Caleb held it, so he had to crane his neck to the side to even read the words. “ _ Omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas -” _ Reggie’s voice was hoarse, no louder than a whisper over the chaos Caleb was wreaking.  _ “Omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis ielgo, omnis congregatio. Et secta diabolica.” _ Whatever he was doing was working, because just when Caleb was about to hit Luke his form flickered, knocking him to the ground.

“No!” Caleb roared, whipping his head around realizing what Reggie was chanting. “You pesky little hunters and your enchantments may work on demons but I am no  _ mere _ demon.” Caleb hissed. He waved his hand and John’s notebook got blown off the couch, landing face down at Reggie’s feet. Caleb flicked his fingers again and his hold was tightened on Reggie’s body, keeping him pinned to the couch. Someone banged on the studio doors, pulling at the handles trying to get in.

“Reggie!” Dean’s voice yelled, Reggie was just barely able to hear his brother’s shout over Caleb’s howling laughter whipping around the room. Luke got knocked backwards by Caleb, sending him sprawling to the ground. Reggie couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy when the back of Luke’s head hit Alex’s bass drum.

“It seems we’ll meet again Reginald,” Caleb hissed, and Reggie suddenly regained feeling in all of his limbs. The impala crashed through the studio doors, Dean behind the driver’s seat.

“Get the  _ hell _ away from my baby brother,” Dean shouted as Sammy tossed him a rifle and he cocked it, firing a salt round straight into Caleb’s chest. Just before the bullet hit him, Caleb disappeared in a flash of purple, and the salt rounds clattered to the floor. With the threat gone for now Dean corssed the room in a few short sides and suddenly Reggie found himself smothered. “Are you okay?” Dean asked, running a hand through Reggie’s hair before pulling him in for a hug. Reggie’s mind tried to process everything that just happened, Caleb threatening his dad, his band showing up - _ his band _ . Reggie crawled out of Dean’s death-grip and raced to Alex’s side, Luke at Julie’s.

“What - what did he do to them?” Reggie asked, not really expecting an answer. It looked like they were both asleep, but he knew that wasn’t a case. On both of their wrists they had a purple tattoo with the letters  _ H G C _ engraved into their skin. He wrapped the drummer up and held Alex close to his chest, the only way to tell if he was still breathing.

“Who was that guy?” Luke wondered, brushing loose strands of hair out of her face. Julie didn’t even shift, just lying limply as Luke wrapped her hands up in his. “Reg, what the hell is going on? One second we were at the movies and the next -” he cut himself off, a painful expression buried in his eyes. Reggie clutched to Alex with his left arm, pulling Luke closer with his right. They both used Alex’s bass drum as a back rest.

“Dean we have to call in dad,” Sam said when he saw Alex and Julie were tattooed. Dean ran a hand through his hair, looking more stressed out than Reggie had ever seen him.

"What the heck is going on here?" A new voice said. Reggie and Luke snapped their heads to the studio door. 

"Shit," Dean muttered when he saw Mr. Molina standing by the Impala, looking very concerned. Reggie glanced at Luke, who had yet to let go of Julie's hand. Sam took charge of the situation, spewing some story about Dean drunk driving. By some miracle Julie blinked awake when her dad approached them.

"Julie, sweetie?" Her dad asked, and Luke begrudgingly let him take her. Reggie still held onto Luke though, refusing to let go of his band. 

"Ugh, Luke?" Julie questioned, blinkinging awake. Reggie breathed a sigh of relief when Alex did the same. Mr. Molina's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but Reggie turned his attention to Sam and Dean. Sam had picked up John's journal and Dean was on the phone, Reggie assumed with their dad.

"Julie honey its okay," Mr. Molina said, hugging her close. Julie looked dazed and confused, the light that was usually in her eyes were gone. When Alex's eyes finally focused Reggie frowned when he saw the light was gone from the drummer's eyes as well.

"Dad, I don't - " Julie cut herself off with a pained cough and her dad pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, checking her temperature. Alex just clutched tighter to Reggie, his skin was ice cold and he was shivering, despite wearing the same pink hoodie as he always did. Luke wrapped an arm around them, still keeping an eye on Julie.

"I think you all just need to sleep," Mr. Molina said after he checked on the boys. "You've been running yourself ragged with the band lately. If you boys want you can take the guest room instead of staying in the studio," Mr. Molina offered, looking at them with a kind smile. Luke glanced to Reggie, who nodded. With a small smile Luke said,

"Maybe that'll be for the best. Thanks Mr. Molina."

"I've told you a million times Luke," he said with a smile. "Call me Ray." Reggie sort of tuned out the rest of their conversation, something about no more late night rehearsals during the school week. 

The next thing he knew Reggie was sandwiched between Luke and Alex. Stuck in the middle of the guest room bed made to only fit two people. Alex was already passed out, snoring softly curled up on his side, facing Reggie and Luke. He didn't know exactly when Sam and Dean left, just that they stuck a sticky note saying  _ call us _ onto the back of his flannel. "We need to talk," Luke said filling the silence. Reggie sighed, knowing that he owed them an explanation, what little he could give them.

"I know," Reggie said back, feeling exhausted from the day's events. Luke hummed softly, running a hand through Reggie's hair. His eyelids felt heavier when Luke continued to twist his hair between his fingers. Alex winced in his sleep, eyebrows furrowed as he curled tighter into Reggie. Luke buried his face into Reggie's shoulder,

"Tomorrow," Luke mumbled. Reggie let out a low chuckle, the sound warm in his chest. Reggie nodded, holding his boys as close as he possibly could. 

"Tomorrow," Reggie promised, running his hand up and down Luke's arm. The door creaked open and Julie poked her head in. When she say they were all still awake she shuffled into the room wearing her bear claw slippers. "Come on," Reggie said, ignoring the drool Luke dribbled onto his shoulder. Julie smiled and jumped on the bed, wriggling between Luke and Reggie. She nuzzled into Reggie's chest, and he finally felt a little flicker of warmth in his soul again. Reggie held onto his family tighter. He didn't want the feeling of warmth in his soul to disappear anytime soon. Something in his gut told Reggie that Caleb wasn't done with them yet anytime soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Caleb's attack leaves the band worse for wear. While they recuperate Reggie, Alex, and Julie end up discovering Rose Molina wasn't exactly everything Julie thought she was. It turns out her mom was so much more than just a musician.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I'm not dead.
> 
> It took me a while to figure out how to keep this story going and now I went and made it even more complicated lmao. I hope you all like the twisty ending to the chapter. I feel like it's shorter than normal... oh well at least I posted it!
> 
> Comment about what you think is gonna happen next!
> 
> Enjoy,
> 
> ~ R

Reggie woke up with the weight of another human on top of him  _ Luke, _ his mind supplied. Reggie groaned then flipped over, his back against the hardwood floor. “Luke,” Reggie whispered. He managed to kick Luke in an attempt to wake him but was answered by a snort and Luke drooling onto the Molina's carpet. 

They must’ve fallen out of the bed during the night, resorting Luke to lie sprawled on top of him. Reggie sighed and let the back of head hit the ground with a  _ thunk _ . “Luke,” Reggie tried again. He poked Luke’s cheek and Luke let out an ugly sounding snore. Reggie cringed in disgust muttering, “ _ yuck _ .” He tried to wriggle out from underneath the guitarist, but Luke wasn’t having it. He spread out his limbs, wrapping them around Reggie keeping him in place. He heard someone above them laugh and looked up to see Alex sitting on the edge of the bed, dangling his legs onto the floor.

“Need some help?” Alex asked, a cheeky smile on his face. Luke’s arm flopped across Reggie’s face and he glared at the drummer.

“What do you think? He sleeps like a log,” Reggie said, reaching out his own hand. Alex grabbed it and helped pull Reggie up. They both just let Luke flip over on the floor, his face pressed in to the rug.

“He’s going to get a carpet burn,” Julie said popping up and resting her head on Alex’s shoulder. She held up her phone and snapped a picture of Luke drooling onto the rug.

“He’ll be fine," Reggie said nudging Luke's side with his big toe. "Are you guys okay?” Reggie asked, the memory of the previous night’s events still fresh in his mind. “Covington didn’t do anything to you guys right? Before he teleported you into the studio I mean.” Alex and Julie exchanged a look, then they both shook their heads.

“Nope. One second I was at Flynn’s and the next I woke up with a killer headache,” Julie said, stretching her arms over her head with a yawn as she stood up. Reggie took note when she scratched the inside of her right wrist, where Caleb's mark appeared on her. Alex nodded in agreement.

“I was on a date with Willie and then… it felt like something hooked into me and dragged me to the studio. I wasn’t in control of where I was going like we usually are,” Alex said trailing off. Julie turned her attention to Reggie who, given his newfound freedom, stretched his arms over his head with a yawn.

“What about the tattoos?” Reggie asked, and they both showed the underside of their left wrists, branded by a purple mark. “Damn,” Reggie said as he took a look at the symbols. Julie pulled her wrist away,

“Do you know what it means?” Julie asked. She grabbed a pillow from the bed and whacked Luke with it. Reggie winced in sympathy, Dean had his fair share of whacking him awake. Luke groaned loudly in complaint, pulling a pillow over his head.

“Alright alright! I’m up, ungrateful little…” the rest of Luke’s rant was lost in a strand of mumbles. Reggie picked out a few cuss words here and there and raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Luke tried to pull himself up, but he stumbled forward and almost face planted onto the ground. Reggie reached an arm out to catch him around the middle just before he hit the floor. Luke’s eyes blinked furiously as he tried to focus.

“Woah, dude you alright?” Alex asked, eyebrows furrowed in concern. Julie was instantly at Luke's side, running her hand through his hair comfortingly. Reggie could only watch as Luke collapsed backwards onto the bed, lying down face up.

"I don't know," Luke admitted quietly. He used his palms to rub at his eyes. Reggie could easily tell he was struggling to stay awake. "I just feel so exhausted. Like… like there's something missing." Luke said, not taking his eyes off Julie as she cradled his head in her lap, singing softly in spanish. Reggie frowned slightly. Luke was right, something did seem like there was seriously wrong. Not just with him, but all of them. Luke's eyes looked darker than they usually were. They didn't have the same spark they used to have, the brightness that made Reggie fall for him in the first place.

"We'll figure it out Luke," Reggie said as he reached out to squeeze his hand. He hoped he wasn't lying to his best friends… but if he knew Sam and Dean as well as he thought he did; his brothers were already trying to find a way to defeat Caleb and break whatever curse he put on them. Julie helped Luke lie more comfortably on the bed, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead before following Alex to the kitchen. Luke raised an eyebrow when he noticed Reggie had stayed behind.

“You gonna give me a goodbye kiss too?” Luke said. He tried to play it off like a joke but the second he started to talk he fell into a fit of coughs. Reggie was at his side instantly, helping him pile the pillows so they supported his back better. “I’m fine,” Luke said in a weak attempt to shoo Reggie away.

“Yeah, like I believe that,” Reggie said with a scoff. He pulled up a chair next to Luke and settled in for the day. “You look like death warmed over. Whatever Covington did, Sam and Dean can take care of it. Until then I’m never leaving your side.” Okay, maybe that was the guilt talking, but Reggie wasn’t going to leave Luke alone without his soul. Luke frowned slightly, eyes glancing down at Reggie’s now bouncing knee.

“I’ll be  _ fine _ ,” Luke promised, intertwining their fingers together over the quilt. His eyes still looked glazed over, like it was hard for him to focus on something. Reggie’s heart twisted in his chest, it pained him to see his friend suffering so much and being unable to do anything to help him. Luke scooted back, “Go eat breakfast or something dude. I’ll be alive -” he cut himself off with a cough. Reggie winced in sympathy then handed him a water bottle from the bedside table. Luke took it and drank a few gulps before screwing the cap back on. “I’ll be alive when you get back,” Luke said. Reggie would’ve believed him any other day, but right now Luke literally looked like death warmed over.

“Luke I’m sorry,” Reggie said, feeling a tear roll down his cheek. “If I had - if I did something sooner. If Dean trusted me with the monsters years ago instead of trying to protect me…” he trailed off as Luke raised a shaky hand to brush away his tears.

“I don’t blame you Reg,” Luke managed to croak out, wincing at how scratchy his voice was. Reggie let out a light chuckle, leave it to Luke to try to comfort  _ him _ when he should've been comforting Luke. “Don’t beat - beat yourself up over this,” Luke said, his eyelids starting to flutter shut. Sam and Dean are going to need all the help they can get.” Reggie sighed, knowing Luke was right.

“I’ll let you get rest. Hopefully Sam and Dean know something by now,” Reggie said. He squeezed Luke’s hand. Reggie stayed by Luke’s side until he was certain he was sleeping again. Luke looked the most calm when he slept, the worry lines in his forehead disappeared and his mouth hung slightly open. Reggie pulled the quilt over Luke, tucking him in to ensure he was comfortable. “I’ll fix this,” Reggie said. If he ended up leaving his own chaste kiss, pressed softly against Luke’s forehead, then no one else had to know. He softly closed the door behind him, his socked feet padding silently down the hallway.

“How’s he doing?” Julie asked, turning her head when Reggie slid into his usual seat at the table next to her. Sighing, he fell forward, nearly missing the stack of pancakes Ray had left out for him. Reggie took a shaky breath before sitting back up to answer her.

“Not good. Not good at  _ all _ . Covington he… I don’t know, he didn’t stamp Luke but he took something from him.” Reggie said as he doused his breakfast in syrup. “He took whatever made Luke  _ our _ Luke. It’s like… like he’s this shell of who he used to be.” He let Julie pull him in for a hug, both of them in tears. The only reason Reggie pulled away from her was because his phone rang. The classic rock song signaling the caller was Dean.

“Answer it,” Julie urged, peering over his shoulder to see who was calling. With a heavy sigh Reggie swiped his finger across his phone screen, answering the call.

_ “Reg thank god, where are you right now?” _ Dean asked, his voice sounding rushed and worried. Reggie glanced to Alex, who looked like he wasn’t doing much better than Luke. Alex’s eyes looked ashen and his face was pale. Julie seemed to be the one doing the best out of them all, somehow still able to keep her head up despite them all being in the literal worst-case scenario possible. 

“I’m at Julie’s house still,” Reggie said, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. “Have you and Sammy figured something out? Dean, what the hell did Caleb do to my band?” Reggie questioned, leaving the main house to enter the studio. Mr. Molina still didn’t know about the supernatural and well… maybe it was hypocritical of him but Reggie wanted to make sure Julie didn’t lose any more of her family. 

_ “Reg take a breath,” _ Dean said, waiting until Reggie did as he asked.  _ “Better?” _ Dean asked, listening as Reggie followed his breathing pattern.

“Yeah,” Reggie said. He entered the studio and let out a low whistle when he saw the damage left behind from Caleb’s attack. Alex’s drums were knocked over, guitars littered the floor and nothing was where it was supposed to go. “Got any answers for me?” Reggie asked as he shoved trash off of Luke’s couch to clear a place for him to sit.

_ “So get this; Covington’s technically a reaper,” _ Dean said, starting to explain the research. _ “According to dad’s contacts he went rogue over fifty years ago. Something about him on a quest to gain the most power over souls.” _ Reggie grabbed a notebook from off the floor and flipped to an empty page, writing down what Dean was saying.

“So what does that mean?” Reggie asked, switching his phone to speaker so he could write easier. Alex and Julie both walked into the garage, Julie deciding to sit on the piano bench and Alex flopping next to Reggie on the couch.

_ “Hey Reg it’s Sam,” _ Sam said after a scuffle sounded through the phone speaker.  _ “Okay kid, ghosts and spirits are easy to get rid of. Salt and burn the bodies until the ghost disappears. Reapers on the other hand, can’t exactly get… killed…” _ Sam trailed off and the weight of his words fell over the studio. Reggie’s shoulders slumped forward, the notebook sliding off his lap and back onto the floor.

“Sam it’s Alex,” the drummer said, taking the phone from Reggie before he could drop it and crack the screen. “Have you and Dean figured anything out about the stamps or the jolts?” As if on cue Reggie could only watch as Julie and Alex got shocked by a bolt of purple energy. Reggie stretched his arm across Alex’s back, holding him close.

_ “Covington uses the stamps as a sort of… feeding ground. If he marks you with it he can drain you like a battery whenever he needs a power boost. He’ll keep doing it until…” _ Sam trailed off and the familiar feeling of dread curdled in Reggie’s stomach.

“Sam what’ll happen if Caleb taps them out?” Reggie asked, taking the phone back from Alex. Sam sighed heavily in response.

_ “If Caleb taps them out then… then Reggie there’s nothing we can do. They’re both batteries to him. When a battery’s dead you throw it away _ .” Reggie froze, arm tightening around Alex as he doubled over in a fit of coughs.

“Sam tell me there’s something we can do,” Reggie said, Julie and Alex’s groans of pain filling the studio. Sam’s silence was enough of an answer for him.

_ “We can’t kill Caleb but we can trap him,” _ Sam said quietly. Reggie felt himself tense, opting to stay silent to let Sam collect his thoughts.  _ “We’ll need a spirit box, some kind of container. Then we need to get close enough to Caleb to trick him into getting trapped. If he’s in the box and the wards are engraved correctly… it should be enough to free your friends from his control.” _ Suddenly something sparked in Julie’s eyes and she stood up and crossed the studio to the room.

“I think my mom had something like that… give me a few seconds,” Julie said as she climbed the stairs to the loft and started rooting through some of the bags.

“Sam I’m going to have to call you back okay?” Reggie said, hanging up the phone without waiting for a response.

“Holy shit,” Alex said after they sat in silence for a good ten minutes. Reggie figured that summed up their situation perfectly.  _ Holy shit _ . Reggie’s band was on the brink of disappearing for eternity, and he knew it was all his fault. He would have fought harder against Caleb, he should’ve had salt on him or iron or  _ something _ that would’ve been able to help him fend off Caleb’s attack. Reggie shuddered as the feeling of being held down by the reaper’s shadows crept along his limbs again, threatening to send him into a panic attack.

“Guys! Guys you’ll never believe this!” Julie exclaimed, stumbling back down the loft stairs. She had one hand on the railing and one arm was clutched close to her chest, holding a medium-sized shoebox. “I knew some of those words from that chant sounded familiar, I always just thought this was like an old songbook or something. I didn’t realize everything in this box was actually  _ real _ .” Julie said, dumping the contents of the box out on top of the piano.

  
“Jules what is it?” Alex asked, getting up to see what she was going on about. Reggie joined him, crossing the distance between them and Julie in a few short strides. There were a few things strewn out on the table. A small beaten up leather notebook, a smaller dark wood box with a devil’s trap engraved on the lid. There were a few news clippings regarding strange and unusual cases in the LA area, most of which seemed condensed to the Orpheum theater.

“These are notes about different hunts…” Reggie said, thumbing through the notebook. “It’s like my dad’s journal, the chants and stuff are for warding and banishing different monsters.” From the bottom of the box Julie pulled out an aged sheet of music, folded in half and bent at the top.

“Weird,” Alex hummed as he tried to tap out the beat to the song. “It doesn’t seem like it’s finished.” Reggie put down the notebook and turned the music sheet so he could scan the lyrics.

“It’s not look,” he said pointing to where the ink faded away like Mrs. Molina’s pen ran dry and she never got around to finishing it. Julie sniffled beside Reggie and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in for a hug. The words were written strategically, they lyrics were structured. Like she’d been planning to sing it for someone specific… “ _ to _ someone specific,” Reggie said finishing his thoughts out loud.

“What?” Alex asked, face twisting to confusion. He'd been looking at the pictures from the shoe box, old yellowed Polaroids of Julie's mom, dad and a friend from the nineties. Reggie took the small wooden box and slid the lid open to reveal more engravings on the inside.

“The lyrics listen;  _ wake up wake up if it’s all you do, _ ” he said, reading the song. “Who needs to wake up? And  _ why _ do they need to wake up?” Julie let out a gasp as she skimmed through the rest of the song.

“Relight that spark… maybe my mom knew someone from when she worked at the Orpheum. Someone who got captured or tricked by Caleb?” Julie asked, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. Reggie flicked through the journal again and one name seemed to be repeated over and over again. It was scrawled on almost every page, chicken scratched into the borders hard enough to leave indents on the next few pages. And Julie, reading through the journal along with Reggie voiced the question racing through his mind. “Who the _hell_ is Bobby Wilson?” Julie asked, fingers tracing over her mother's handwriting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me on Tumblr: @Random-Nerd-3
> 
> I'll probably end up posting chapter sneak peeks or bonus content and stuff pretty soon. Like, scenes that didn't make the final cut and stuff.

**Author's Note:**

> Yell at me on Tumblr: @Random-Nerd-3


End file.
